People v. Widener

FILES, J.

Defendant was tried before a jury and convicted of possession of marijuana in violation of Health and Safety Code, section 11530. The trial judge suspended proceedings and granted probation on condition that defendant spend 60 days in the county jail. Defendant has appealed from the “judgment,” i.e., the order granting probation, and the order denying his motion for new trial.

Early in the evening of November 4, 1961, defendant parked his automobile in the parking lot of a shopping center at Centinela and Sepulveda Boulevards and went into a restaurant. While he was away his wife, who was seated in the car with their two cMldren, wrote the word “help” on the car window. She was frightened and crying because defendant had struck her, and she wanted police protection. Two deputy sheriffs approached the vehicle and observed on the front seat a

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brown bottle which was labelled “Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin C.” The woman said the bottle belonged to her husband. When defendant returned to the car he was taken to the Lennox Sheriff’s Substation. The deputy who examined defendant at the substation observed that the pupils of his eyes were extremely dilated, his gait was unsteady, he failed to pass simple balance tests, he appeared to be “very stimulated,” he had difficulty answering questions, and his pupils failed to react when the light of a flashlight was directed toward them. This officer formed the opinion that defendant was under the influence of either marijuana or an amphetamine type drug. Subsequent chemical analysis of the contents of the brown bottle established that these contents included 70 tablets of amphetamine sulphate and two capsules of sodium secobarhitol.

A search of the automobile disclosed three more tablets under the front seat, which appeared to be identical with the amphetamine tablets in the bottle.

In defendant’s shirt pocket were found two partially burned marijuana cigarettes.

Defendant told the officers that he had found both the bottle and the marijuana cigarettes in the closet of his bedroom after he had come home from work that afternoon. He said there had been a Halloween party in his home the previous week and he supposed that these items had been left behind by one of the guests. He said he had taken them with him that evening so as to remove them from the house and dispose of them. Defendant told the same story when he testified at the trial. Defendant also testified that when he found the cigarettes, he thought they were marijuana.